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Robert Thomas

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Robert W. Thomas Jr., United States Navy (Ret), is the Chief Operations Officer for the Nebraska Defense Research Corporation (NDRC). NDRC is a non-profit company, affiliated with the University of Nebraska, founded to identify, evaluate, and assist innovation and technology transfer in support of U.S. national security objectives. Mr. Thomas provides strategic counsel and advisory support to facilitate collaboration among government, industry, and academia to accelerate delivery of mission-relevant capabilities to the warfighter.

His responsibilities include:

  • Facilitating and growing government, industry, and academia strategic partnerships
  • Evaluating technology for operational impact and industrial scalability
  • Accelerating defense innovation and technology transition
  • Advancing national security workforce development initiatives

Before joining NDRC, Mr. Thomas served as a Director at Sierra Nevada Corporation and as a Senior Manager at Lockheed Martin where he led a diverse portfolio of business development activities focused on efficiently delivering warfighting capabilities. As a member of the U.S. Air Force’s Senior Executive Service, Mr. Thomas served as the Director of Capability and Resource Integration (J8) at both U.S. Space Command and U.S. Strategic Command, leading enterprise strategy development, capability advocacy, budget development, and enterprise integration for numerous national security missions.

His federal executive portfolio included:

  • Overseeing U.S. Space Command’s and U.S. Strategic Command’s warfighting requirements and federal budgeting processes
  • Lead advocacy efforts for space, nuclear weapon, long-range conventional strike, and missile defense sustainment and modernization
  • Advising senior defense leaders on deterrence policy, strategic capability development, resource allocation, and mission effectiveness assessments

Mr. Thomas was commissioned through the Navy ROTC in 1990 and served 20 years as a U.S. Navy submarine officer with tours on USS Greeneville (SSN-772), USS Louisiana (SSBN-742), and USS Maine (SSNB-741). Mr. Thomas also served as Carrier Strike Group Ten’s training officer and submarine element coordinator and as a Company Officer at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Mr. Thomas and his wife, Stacie, reside in Gretna, NE.